NEW YORK – There are “no hard feelings” between the Yankees and Luis Severino – at least that’s what Severino says – but when the Subway Series moves to the Bronx in July, the Mets starter will want the ball.
Severino was mocked by his former teammates when the Mets announced last Friday that they would postpone his scheduled start against the Yankees until Sunday against the Cubs.
“’You’re afraid of us,’” some Yankees players wrote to him, according to Severino.
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The answer is no. Severino is not afraid of the Yankees.
Despite 13 years of information on the 30-year-old right-hander, he wants to face his former team. He even says he will “do everything in his power to make that happen.”
But there is pure love between both sides. Severino, who joked that the biggest difference between the two franchises is that he can wear a beard on the Mets, still feels a connection to the Yankees.
This is, after all, the team that signed him from the Dominican Republic at age 17. The place where he established himself as the team’s top player, earning consecutive All-Star nominations and AL Cy Young Award votes in 2017 and 2018.
“They’re my family,” Severino told reporters. “I grew up with the Yankees.”
With the Mets, Severino has evolved into a different type of pitcher. He has improved his sleep hygiene, followed the instructions of the team nutritionist and changed his repertoire to favor his sinker ball over his scorching fastball.
This allowed him to return to being the kind of pitcher the Yankees would likely have kept after a forgettable season in 2023. Back then, Severino posted career-worst ERA (6.65), WHIP (1.65), and rating states like H/9 (11.4) and HR/9 (2.3).
In 15 games with the Mets, Severino is 5-2 with a 3.29 ERA. His groundball percentage of 50% is the highest since 2015 (51.4%), thanks to the sinker.
Despite leaving his former team, Severino stays in touch with many of his old friends such as Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil, two players to whom he often gives advice.
Severino believes that as a Yankee he did everything he could to be successful.
“The thing is, I got hurt playing baseball. I wasn’t out of sight, on a motorcycle, in a damn helicopter or any of that shit. I played baseball,” Severino said. “I gave everything I had to the Yankees and at the end of the day, there are no hard feelings. I love the Yankees. I love the guys out there and I’m here because they gave me the opportunity to be somebody.”
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You can reach Manny Gómez at [email protected].
